Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami has directed to make Uttarakhand Kanwad Seva App for the successful conduct of Kanwar Yatra, in which all the details of Kanwariyas should be made available. This app can be used during the Kanwar Yatra organized every year, this will make the Kanwar Yatra more smooth and safe than before. While reviewing the preparations for Kanwad Mela-2025 with senior officials at Mela Niyantran Bhawan Haridwar on Thursday, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami directed the district administration, police and other related departments to ensure tight arrangements for the safe and successful completion of Kanwar Yatra. He said that such states from where most of the Kanwariyas come. All necessary inputs should be shared with those states from mutual coordination, real time data sharing and security point of view. Describing the Kanwar Yatra as a trial of the upcoming Kumbh Mela, the Chief Minister said that these experiences will also be useful for the upcoming Kumbh Mela.
The Chief Minister, while instructing the officer, said that there should not be any kind of encroachment on the Kanwar Yatra routes. He directed to remove all types of encroachments before the Kanwar Yatra.
The Chief Minister also directed to ensure compliance of safety standards in the dhabas and hotels located on the Yatra route as well as to compulsorily paste food license and rate list. He said that it should be ensured that the names of the hotels located on the Yatra route and the names of the hotel owners are also compulsorily written and in case of complaint of over-rating, action should be taken against the concerned hotel owners with full force. He said that the SOP related to liquor and meat should also be strictly followed during this period.
The Chief Minister said that this year we have to give the message of clean and green Kanwar Yatra. He said cleanliness should be our priority. For which cleanliness campaign should continue every hour on the entire Kanwar route. Mobile toilets, special vehicles should be deployed for garbage disposal every 1-2 km in Haridwar, Roorkee, Rishikesh and nearby areas. He said that the availability of health centers, ambulances and medical staff should be ensured within every 2 to 3 kilometers on the Kanwar route and helpline numbers should also be issued, so that the general public can get convenience.
Shelters should be constructed
The Chief Minister said that keeping in view the convenience of the Kanwariyas, night shelters, tent cities, shelters should be constructed with the cooperation of local bodies. RO tankers, water ATMs should be arranged on the travel routes. The Chief Minister said that based on the experiences of the past years, there should be additional parking arrangements. The Chief Minister also directed to take strict action against those who spread rumors on social media related to the Kanwar Yatra. Along with this, instructions were given to display information on ‘what to do and what not to do’ for Kanwariyas and devotees on the travel routes.
The Chief Minister said that special attention should also be paid to security during the Kanwar Yatra. There should be regular monitoring with CCTV and drones. A GIS mapping based traffic plan of the Kanwar route should be prepared and an AI based traffic monitoring system should be developed. To deal with natural disasters, deployment of SDRF, NDRF, early warning system of rain and landslides should be activated. Along with this, the announcement system should also be strengthened at sensitive ghats. He said that the number of lost and found centers should be increased in the entire Haridwar area.
Kawad Mela will be organized from 11 to 23 July
District Officer Haridwar Mayur Dixit said that this year Kawad Mela will be organized from 11 to 23 July. This year the fair has been divided into a total of 16 super zones, 37 zones and 134 sectors. Traffic arrangements have been made as per the convenience of the devotees coming on the Yatra as well as the local people. He said that separate traffic arrangements have also been implemented for the devotees going to Char Dham, local people and Kawad pilgrims.
Rajya Sabha MP Kalpana Saini, MLAs Madan Kaushik, Pradeep Batra, Adesh Chauhan, Mamta Rakesh, District Panchayat President Kiran Chaudhary, Mayor Kiran Jesal, Chief Secretary Anand Bardhan, DGP Deepam Seth, Principal Secretary RK Sudhanshu, R. Meenakshi Sundaram, Secretary Nitesh Jha, Pankaj Pandey, Vinod Kumar Suman, Vinay Shankar Pandey, former Cabinet Minister Swami Yatishwaranand, Vice President State Disaster Management Authority Vinay Ruhela, Minister of State rank Om Prakash Jamadagni, Shobharam Prajapati, Sunil Saini, Shyamveer Saini, Jaipal Singh Chauhan, Deshraj Karnawal, Ganga Sabha President Nitin Gautam, BJP District President Ashutosh Sharma, and others were present in the meeting.